Jagriti: the Spark of a Revolution
The program schedule and in depth activity description for Jagriti 2014 can be found at here.
It is often said that schools are the cradles of democracy, and on the 21st November, Jagriti showed us what exactly these cradles are capable of producing. Jagriti is a joint initiative by 18minus and the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) to celebrate the future of the country by heralding the youth and providing them with a platform to express their views, and more importantly, make their voices heard. Jagriti was inaugurated by Revathy Ashok, CEO, Bangalore Political Action Committee and the Guest of Honor, Sandeep Shastri, Pro Vice Chancellor, Jain University, as these veterans of the political arena took time out of their schedules and shared their experiences with their young compatriots.
With over sixty students taking part from all across Bangalore, Jagriti was truly a convention of thinkers as students discussed, dissected and resolved hotly debated issues, proving to the world that they were indeed, old enough to make a difference. In Rajneeti – the Youth Parliament, youngsters donned the robes of parliamentarians like Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal and discussed the pertinent issue of inclusion of mandatory sex education in high school curriculum. Tensions were high, but surprisingly enough, the student representing Mulayam Singh Yadav managed to cohere the committee together into a unanimous body. The parliamentarians drafted a comprehensive recommendation, entailing the economic, biological, cultural and legal aspects of the agenda at hand.
While the audience was absorbing the meticulous manner of research the delegates had put in, they were subjected to an enthralling dramatic performance in Bhavana, the social play event. School students, as young as those from Garde VII touched upon topics like domestic abuse and homosexuality, asserting themselves in their belief that social awareness is the only panacea to the evils plaguing Indian society. The students from the Parikrama Foundation went even ahead, taking a pledge promoting temperance and condoning substance abuse. The judging faculty and audience were left speechless as these adolescent actors delivered emotion-laden performances.
With the competition starting to heat up, students strived to use each iota of their talent, and in Sandesh – a letter to the Prime Minister – the winners were decided by the difference of a mere point. Participants were allotted unique perspectives that served as the foundation for their letters. Encouraged to explore the untouched realms of issues, students addressed letters as “an unborn girl child”, or a “patient in an underequipped government hospital” or even from the perspective of “a fish in the polluted Ganges!” The winner of the event, writing as “Mahatma Gandhi looking at India 2014”, painted a bitter truth with her words as she addressed the flipside of urbanization, pleading that the Prime Minister does not give up in his fight against the vice of corruption.
Jagriti ended with Paheli, an avant-garde quiz that tested the buzzing minds of the city on their civic and environmental knowhow. With a nail biting finish that ended with two teams being tied on the same number of points, the quizmaster had to rack his brains for more and more tiebreakers as National Public School – Indiranagar and St. Joseph’s Pre University College replied with an intellectual stalemate. The event turned out to be a highly educational and insightful session for participants and spectators alike as we learned the intricacies and nuances about Namma Bengaluru, amongst others.
As the evening came to a close and the excitement of the prize distribution reached a crescendo, the words of Chanakya Varma, cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of 18minus, were left ringing in the auditorium: “We have cricket tournaments for budding sportsmen, and fashion shows for aspiring models, but at the end of the day, the country isn’t run by models or cricketers – it’s run by leaders. Why shouldn’t we also be grooming leaders?”
The future looks bright, for the non-voting population has made a dent in conventional politics. The recommendation drafted by the Youth Parliament will be sent to the Bangalore State Assembly and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the winning letters from Sandesh will be sent to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi himself. As a core member of 18minus described it, Jagriti was truly, a breeding ground for change.
18minus is a student-powered platform for the opinions and ideas of the non-voting youth to be recognized, to be considered and eventually, incorporated into the nation building process. The ultimate aim of 18minus is the establishment of the Bal Sabha, a nation-wide think tank for the proliferation of ideas for country. 18minus can be contacted at 18minus.org.